SPEEDWAY HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS

This morning, Speedway’s wrestling program will attempt to climb a huge competition mountain when they travel to Avon High School for the IHSAA Sectional tournament round. Speedway athletes finishing in the top four will advance to next weekend’s Regional which will be hosted by Mooresville. The Sparkplug grapplers have wrestled a very ambitious schedule this year and the Sparkplugs were rewarded for their competitiveness by finishing a very close second at the eight-team ICC tournament earlier this month. Three Sparkplugs finished first in the ICC meet (Chanse Kilgore -126, Austin Turnquist - 132, and Aung Twe - 175) while senior Miles Miller (190), a regional qualifier last year, finished runner-up at conference. Zeke Omole (215) and Correy Midgett (285) were also runner-ups at the ICC meet and six other Sparkplugs wrestlers finished fourth helping the Sparkplugs finish just 1.5 points out of first place. For this morning’s meet, there are several key matchups to watch for. At 120, Chase Kilgore (7-4) is the #5 seed. He received a first-round bye and will face Ben Davis freshman Alex Tinsley (21-7). The winner will likely face Brownsburg’s Preston Hanes in the semifinal round. At 126, ICC champ Chanse Kilgore (14-7) was awarded the #4 seed. He will face Greencastle sophomore Cyrus Gurnon (8-16) in the quarterfinal round. The winner will likely face top seed Luke Rioux of Avon (28-3, senior). At 132, ICC champ Austin Turnquist (15-9) opens up with Plainfield freshman David Belesi (9-10). The winner will face #2 seed Quinten Schoeff (26-4, sophomore) in the quarterfinal round. At 138, sophomore Vincent Simpson (9-9) opens the sectional against Tri-West freshman John Burry (1-9). The winner advances to the quarterfinals against #2 seed Seth Syra from Avon (27-3, junior). At 144, freshman Alex Young (10-11) faces South Putnam freshman Tyler Coke (11-18). The winner will take on second seeded Brevin Cannon (10-0, junior) from Pike. At 150, freshman Mazeed Oshola (16-10) earned a #4 seed and received a first-round bye. He will open his tournament facing the winner of the match between Avon’s Isaiah Shelton (12-8, junior) and Danville’s Nick Tuttle (5-10, junior). In other highlighted matches, ICC champ Aung Twe (11-10) opens his competition at 175 against Avon senior Matt Nickel (3-14). The winner would wrestle against Plainfield senior James LeClerc (24-8) in the quarterfinals. “Aung and Austin Turnquist (132) both have tough draws but they have been wrestling really well for us lately,” said head coach Nick Paden. “We are hoping to see a good weekend from them.” At 190, senior Miles Miller (20-4) begins his mission to advance to next week’s IHSAA Regional for a second straight season. Miles starts with a quarterfinal match against Plainfield sophomore Drew White (17-10). Miller earned a #3 seed for his outstanding efforts this season. At 215, ICC runner-up Zeke Omole (6-5) opens competition against South Putnam senior Aiden Beadles (26-5). And at 275, sophomore Correy Midgett (13-7), also a runner-up at the ICC meet will face Danville freshman Jacob Snider (9-20) in an opening round match. The winner will advance to face top seeded Kennen Mowery-Shields (24-2), a freshman from South Putnam. This year, the Sparkplugs have filled all fourteen wrestling slots with a tournament squad that is comprised of five freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors. The competition to get to the sectional roster has been fierce this season and have made for some interesting in-house wrestle-offs. “The great thing about wrestling is that each wrestler has the same opportunity to win when they step on the mat,” noted Paden. “All 14 wrestlers are focused on their next match, and if we maintain that focus, we should see an increase in the number of regional qualifiers from years past.”